Tag Archives: Kpop

I missed yesterday… oops! In my defense, it was the first day of English summer camp at school, so I was swamped, but I was also hit with the headache from hell, so I literally left school, came home, curled up in a ball and went to sleep…

Well… after I watched the teaser for JYJ’s Back Seat MV. Oh man… the sexiness… I was really wishing I didn’t have the headache so that I could watch it over and over and over again all afternoon/evening.

Anyway, back to my countdown and back to Japan in 2010 for the last song in JYJ’s A-Nation set in 2010, W: a beautiful ballad with some very moving lyrics. And there’s a story behind them… (It’s a bit of a long one, so I’ll share the video first and then the story.)

The songs on JYJ’s album The… were the first ones released by JYJ after their injunction against SM Entertainment. In fact, they weren’t even called JYJ yet, they were marketed by Avex in Japan as Junsu, Jejung, Yuchun. This particular song is said to be a message to the 2 remaining members of DBSK, Yunho and Changmin; and that, although they didn’t write the lyrics themselves, they sat down with the lyricist, Inoue Shinjiro, who conveyed their feelings for them. (http://aozorajae.blogspot.ca/2011/06/meaning-behind-jyjs-w.html)

To my knowledge, however, JYJ themselves have never confirmed nor denied that the song is about Yunho and Changmin, and since Avex halted their activities in Japan and JYJ subsequently filed a lawsuit against Avex, they no longer sing, nor mention the 4 songs on the The… mini album. However, this may change, going forward, since Junsu sang a medley of some old Tohoshinki (DBSK in Japan) songs at a recent concert in Japan… time will tell, I guess.

Regarding the translated lyrics in the video, it should be noted that in Japanese the “I” and “we” pronouns are seldom required. If you are speaking about something, it is understood to be about the speaker, unless otherwise stated. So, the people who translated these lyrics used “we” and “us” in lines like “We are painting the W in the same way / We will shine more and more so that you can find us” When really, it could just as easily be “I” and “me.” So this could be a song about someone yearning and waiting for a lost love just as easily as a song about 3 bandmates who miss their other 2 members. They do say ‘bokutachi’ and ‘bokutachi no’ at a couple of points in the song, which means we/us and ours, but, again, I think it can be interpreted to be either we the singers, or we the singer plus the person being sung to.

Furthermore, at one point in the song, Yoochun is credited with singing the lyric “We love you both,” however, the official lyrics on the CD say “In love with love” for that line, though it does sound a bit like “we love you both” in this live version, so the idea of Yoochun changing it when singing live is possible, though, to me, it still sounds more like he’s singing the lyrics as they are in the official version.

One thing that people put forth as an argument against it being a message to the other two members is that whenever the song refers to “you” it uses “kimi” which is singular, instead of “kimitachi” the plural form. But it’s music, and people take stylistic liberties with grammar in music and poetry all the time. Also, if it was a message, they might not have wanted to be completely blatant about it either, so using “kimi” would keep the intended recipient(s) vague.

Those who aren’t fully familiar with JYJ and DBSK may wonder why people think it’s a message to the 2 members that stayed with SM Ent? Well, other than the blog post by Inoue Shinjiro, which I’m not actually sure is authentic – I’ve never been ambitious enough to search for his original post – there is one major reason. The W in the sky that the song refers to is the constellation Cassiopeia: the constellation after which Dong Bang Shin Ki’s official fan club is named. It was named after Cassiopeia specifically because of its 5 star W formation, representing the 5 members of DBSK. Because Dong Bang Shin Ki literally means “The rising gods of the east” and where else do the gods reside but in the heavens, right?

So, despite the fact that JYJ never confirmed it, and that the translators used their own interpretations in their translation I think it’s entirely possible that the song is a message to Yunho and Changmin. Releasing a song called W that specifically refers to the constellation that their fan club is named after is too coincidental not to mean something. Plus, their emotions seem so raw while performing it. And, I’m pretty certain that JYJ still believed that they would be back with the other 2 some day because of things that were said when Junsu had a rather infamous Twitter meldown in January of 2011, so the idea of them using a song to communicate with the former bandmates that they were cut off from by the lawsuit is completely feasible. But, I will leave you to make up your own minds… Thoughts?

Um, so I was going to conclude the A-Nation videos in this post, but then a behind the scenes video of the Marie Claire Korea photo shoot came out, and… well, that’s just too much perfection to not share.

So, go ahead and watch, it’ll be the best 55 seconds of your day:

My only complaint about this video is that Junsu never smiles or laughs in it. We see happy, laughing Yoochun, and happy teasing Jaejoong, but Junsu looks very stoic throughout the video. 😦 I love his 으걍걍 moments better than anything else, so, I’m a bit sad to not see any.

(For those of you who are reading this to keep up with me in Korea, and not out of any love for JYJ or Kpop, 으걍걍 is the syllable set they use to describe Junsu’s loud, raucous laughter.)

Here, rather than having me explain it, just watch this video instead. It’s hilarious and adorable.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m still giddy about getting a floor ticket for JYJ’s Hong Kong show. I booked my flights and everything today, so the excited high I had from booking my concert ticket continued on throughout the day. Being able to see them a second time is so amazing and makes me so happy.

Now I have 2 concerts to count down to; that’s cause for celebration. So, in celebration of my ticket acquisition and impending Dracula!Junsu moments tomorrow, and continuing my count down to concert #1, I have something naughty to share: Junsu’s performance of Intoxication at A-Nation in Japan 2010.

Junsu performs Intoxication at A-Nation 2010

^ Just look at those sexy shoulders…

Junsu was the DBSK member with the most innocent, cute image, and then all of a sudden, during Mirotic promotions, he comes out looking all sorts of sexy. And next thing you know, he releases this Japanese solo number.

The translator made some rather odd word choices in this version, but you can still get the gist of the meaning. This song is Junsu being downright raunchy. And I gotta admit, I don’t mind one single bit…

I forgot to make a countdown post last night (no reason – thought about it while cooking dinner and promptly forgot afterwards). So, today I will post twice. Once now and once later tonight.

I’m going to stick with JYJ’s Japanese songs today, because they really are wonderful. And I’m going to try to stick with the A-Nation 2010 performances, because they’re my favourites. 🙂

In fact, the video I’ll share today is one of my very favourite performances of anything ever. When I’m feeling super sad or angry or any other emotion that requires me to distract myself with something really warm and fuzzy so I can return to functioning like a normal human, THIS performance of THIS song is what I call The Big Guns. It’s what I turn to when nothing else will take me to my happy place. And, shockingly enough, JUNSU IS NOT A PART OF THIS PERFORMANCE!

What could be so wonderful that it doesn’t even need Junsu to be one of my favourite things ever? Jaejoong and Yoochun performing Colors: Melody and Harmony. A song they co-wrote in celebration of Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversary. Check it out:

Look at how genuinely happy they look. They seem unable to contain their glee. This performance took place in August 2010, and was one of their first after leaving SM Ent (the first ones were the Thanksgiving Live in Dome concerts in Osaka and Tokyo in June, then this was the next one after that) and before Avex decided to be dickheads and halt all of JYJ’s activities in Japan, so I think they had a cool feeling of freedom for the first time in a while.

And Jaejoong messing up at the end… Adorableness personified. I rewatch that part over and over and over again and never get bored.

Anyway, this is my happy place, and I love that the person who posted the video also considers it her happy place so much that it’s what she named the video on YT. ^_^

On this the day that marks 25 sleeps until I see JYJ in concert, I want to take a trip to Japan, and bring you some of the songs from the first album they released as a trio. The album is called The, and JYJ weren’t even JYJ yet. They were simply referred to as Junsu, Jejung, Yuchun.

Tonight, I bring you いつだって君に (Always with you). It’s such a pretty song… Jaejoong’s voice as it starts is just so beautiful and clear. All 3 of them sound great, but Jae’s introductory vocals just flow over you like silk gliding across your skin.

I have to apologize. The version I wanted to share was of their performance at A-Nation 2010, because that whole show is just wonderful to watch, but all the videos of it that I found had the sound removed for copyright infringement. This video shows scenes from that show (the ones where they’re actually singing) interspersed with scenes from their Thanksgiving Live in Dome Concert. It’s still good, but it isn’t the one I wanted to share…

On the up side, if you can speak Spanish, there’s translated lyrics right there for ya. 😉

From today, there’s exactly 4 weeks until I see JYJ in concert. Even though I’m still disappointed with my seats, I’ve decided to focus on the positive: I’M FINALLY GOING TO SEE JYJ IN CONCERT! So, to celebrate, I’m going to try posting something awesome and JYJ related every day until the concert.

Today, I start with one of their music videos. This song is from their In Heaven album. It’s one of only 2 songs from that album that they made an MV for. The song and video is about discovering your girlfriend is cheating on you with one of your friends… I can’t imagine why anyone would want to cheat on any of the 3 of them. (Well, I mean, I could be tempted away from either of the other 2 by Junsu, but that’s just cuz Junsu is my ultimate, be-all and end-all perfect man, so that doesn’t count. 😉 )

Anyway, here it is:

Get Out

This video is one of my favourites, because all 3 guys look great in it. It’s definitely among my top 3 looks for all 3 of them.
I like Yoochun best with longer hair, but the short hair and a suit works really well for him too. And in the dancing scenes, when he’s not wearing the muscle shirt and vest combo, his arms look fantastic.

And speaking of arms: JUNSU! OMG JUNSU’S ARMS! Junsu looks amAAAAzing in this video. His arms are all toned and sexy and I love both the colour and style of his hair, which is something that doesn’t always happen. Junsu sometimes makes haircolour choices that aren’t my favourite, but in this MV, he’s right on target. And whether he’s sporting the muscle shirt and vest arm-bearing combo, or the sexy suit, or the silver jacket, he looks fantastic. And yes, I admit I’m a bit biased, but just look at him in this MV, he looks great. You can’t argue against that.

Not to be outdone by his dongsaengs, Jaejoong is in peak form in this MV. It’s perhaps my favourite look for Jaejoong – or at least tied with Mirotic era Jae… I always flip flop between those two looks. But anyway, I digress, he looks stunning here. The dark hair styled up off of his face is just perfect, and the scenes with him in a suit make melt just a little bit.

Get Out is one of my favourite songs to dance around to (at home, where nobody can see me!) I know when they play it at the concert I won’t be able to resist dancing and singing along, no matter how terribly I do it…

Sooo… last night the 2nd round of JYJ ticket sales happened. Just like last Wednesday, my friend and I headed to the local PC 방 (faster internet than the crappy connections we get in our building), hoping this time we would be successful, since last week’s venture left us empty handed. I logged in to my Interpark account, and at 8:00 pm on the dot, I tried to pull tickets. SUCCESS! I got 3 tickets in the VIP section within the red oval:

JYJ concert seating map – Seoul August 2014

Yes! Seats in the area that is encircled by part of the stage! RIGHT NEAR THE ROTATING PLATFORM WHERE THEY WILL PROBABLY SING IN HEAVEN AND DO THAT THING WHERE THEY TURN TOWARD EACH OTHER AND FEED OFF OF EACH OTHER’S ENERGY AND CREATE THIS AMAZING SYNERGY THAT I WOULD SERIOUSLY CONSIDER GIVING A KIDNEY OR PART OF MY LIVER TO SEE UP CLOSE! Yes, those seats!

Life could not possibly get better! Those seats were literally a dream come true for me and I had them in my hot little virtual hands!

I proceeded through the ticket purchase process – something I’ve done at least a dozen times by now, so I can do it quite easily, even in Korean – and got all the way to the screen where you select the method of payment, but for some reason, the list of bank cards wasn’t coming up, and where the ‘Next’ button usually is, it said 잠시만 기다려주세요, so I waited for a bit. But I also didn’t want to wait too long and lose my tickets, and there was that little ! in the status bar at the bottom of the window that indicated an error, so I had my friend on the computer next to me try to grab a single ticket elsewhere and see what happens if you hit the ‘previous screen’ button. She did and the tickets were still intact, so I decided to back one step and then try again, hoping that when I got to the payment screen, my tickets would still be there, and they were! I was successful! Yay!

It allowed me to select the method of payment and move forward one step. Then… when it came time to input my card details, there was a notation of an Active X that needed to be allowed. So I allowed it, because otherwise I couldn’t proceed. AND THE DAMN PAGE REFRESHED BACK TO THE BEGINNING AND RELEASED MY TICKETS!!!!!!! And try as I might, I never got them back.

So, now, I’m stuck sitting in the seats within the navy triangle on the map above. It’s a far cry from what I had been in reach of just moments before. Now, unless you’re a huge, devoted fan of something, the way I am of JYJ, you might not understand how I feel, but let me tell you that my heart literally hurts and tears well up in my eyes when I think of it. So I am doing my best to try not to think of it, and just focus on the fact that we got tickets, which is much better than our attempt last week, and that I will finally, after years of waiting, get to see JYJ together. Live. In concert. Making magic like only they can.

But I needed to get it all out of my system in order to move on, hence the post.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to try to get a ticket for their Hong Kong concert the following week and change my flight for my trip to Japan to accommodate a side trip to Hong Kong… They have general admission floor tickets, and that’s what I’m aiming for. Wish me luck! Maybe third time’s a charm?

Oh, and just in case you want to see what I mean about JYJ’s synergy as they perform In Heaven, you can watch a fancam here. It’s a great performance, and the synergy part really kicks into high gear around the 3:37 mark.

With a little less than 5 hours left in 2013 for me, I feel the need to reflect for a moment or two.

This has been an interesting year. The first half was uncomfortable for me. I felt isolated a lot, both at home and at work. Ahh… work… yeah… Work made me really unhappy a lot of the time. Not as unhappy as my first year managing the training team, cuz that was disastrously stressful, but it definitely wasn’t making me feel fulfilled. Or useful. And I think that feeling seeped into my non-work life as well.

Fortunately, I have some good friends near and far (especially my KDKP fam) who helped prop me up when I needed some extra TLC. And I had Kpop. Roll your eyes if you want. Shake your head and judge me as a weirdo and crazy fangirl if you need to, but the truth is, Kpop is my happy place, and has been for a few years now. It’s my escape from all manner of stressful emotions: whether I feel sad, angry, frustrated, worthless, overwhelmed… whatever negative emotion I feel, if I immerse myself in Kpop for a while, that feeling dissipates. I don’t know why it works that way for me, but I’m not gonna question it.

Kpop also played a part in my decision to quit my job and move to Korea to teach English. It wasn’t the REASON I came to Korea to teach – my interest in Korean culture goes beyond pop culture, and my desire to teach English overseas goes back many years – but the idea that living in Korea could mean more opportunities to see Kpop shows, and specifically to see JYJ live in their own country, gave me the courage to cast aside my fear of rejection and ignore the large part of my brain that kept screaming “No, you don’t like change! Change is scary! Change is bad! Don’t do that!!!”

So, despite 2013’s rocky first half, today I sit here on New Year’s Eve happier and more content than I’ve been on any NYE in recent memory. I love my job to the point that I didn’t mind working until 4:40 today, because it meant hanging out with my rural school students watching Star Wars, decorating cupcakes to look like Princess Leia, having battles with lightsabres made of animal balloons and laughing my butt off on more than one occasion. I’m going on about 4 hours of sleep, because yesterday, I booked it to the bus terminal after school, hopped on a bus to Seoul, met my friend at the subway and headed to Jamsil Sports Complex to see Junsu (yes, JUNSU!!!) in concert. Afterward, we stayed up talking until way too late, then I woke up a good 2 hours before sunrise, hopped on the subway, headed to the bus terminal, then got on a bus back home to Chungju so I could get washed up and ready for my afternoon at school running English Camp. Yet, despite being tired, I’m happy. And I’m going to head upstairs to one of the other English teacher’s apartments where a bunch of us are going to enjoy a Mexican themed evening filled with games, yummy food, sangria, and, I’m sure lots and lots of laughs. Yeah, not a bad way to welcome in 2014. 🙂

Happy New Year, everyone! If 2013 was good to you, I hope that trend continues. If it’s a year you’re happy to see the end of, I hope 2014 is much more to your liking.